Caption: Vatican City. Satellite view of the Vatican. Vatican City is the smallest independent state in the world. Surrounded by the city of Rome, it forms the territory of the Holy See, the central authority of the Roman Catholic Church and is home to the Pope. The elliptical space at the centre of the image is St Peter's Square, to the left is St Peter's Basilica and to the north of this is the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican is surrounded by city walls and has a population of approximately 900 people. This image was taken by the Ikonos satellite, the first commercial satellite to collect data at one-metre resolution.